Survival mode character traits?

[past caring]

Newish to the game and new to the forums so apologies if this has been suggested before (I have done a bit of a search but didn't see anything.....).

As the male and female characters in survival mode are obviously loosely based on Wil and Astrid was wondering whether there might be said for giving them differing traits/skills from the outset? This so it feels like you're playing a different character rather than simply a different avatar.

The way I've imagined it, such traits would not be based on any stereotyped 'male' or 'female' characteristics but on what we know about Will and Astrid. So 'Astrid' has better doctoring skills (maybe doesn't waste as much anti-septic when treating wounds and can craft medicinal plants quicker) and her knowledge of anatomy results in her being able to harvest carcasses more quickly.

By the same token, we know Will has some skills as a navigator (resulting in quicker mapping) and probably has at least some rudimentary mechanical skills (resulting in quicker mechanical repairs).

These are just examples. Could possibly be a custom option for those who don't want it....

Obviously no biggie and not a priority - but if you don't ask, you don't get... 

[ManicManiac]

@past caring

First off, welcome to the wilderness. 

As for your question:
As far as I can tell they "are" Will and Astrid (in that it's the same voice actors portraying those characters).  As to your question of traits and skills unique to the character chosen... I think part of the idea is that there isn't a fundamental difference between them in terms of the player experience.  Since both characters are on equal footing it's up to the player to "make the difference."  This way, whether you are playing the male or female survivor, it just serves as a vessel for the player to enter and experience the world of Great Bear.

I think that giving both characters their own unique advantages and disadvantages for the survival sandbox would be a mistake.

Edited September 25, 2019 by ManicManiac

[past caring]

I'm not wedded to the idea myself.

But I'm also assuming the fact that the player can - unlike a lot of games, though that is perhaps changing - choose between a male and female character is a recognition by Hinterland that the gaming world is a little more diverse than it used to be and something to perhaps encourage female gamers? That said, as a male and starting off playing Will, I'm now playing Astrid more.....But that isn't really the point.

Thing is, it just seems a bit pointless having two different 'characters' when essentially, there's no difference at all - just the avatar. And as I suggested, I wouldn't want to impose it on anyone - hence a possible custom option.

 

[ManicManiac]

@past caring
I think we already sort of have what you describe, only it's in for form of the "feats" we choose in order to give our character certain advantages.  This way you do get to customize the character to an extent without forcing a player to choose between male or female by virtue of intrinsic/unique traits.  I think the "feats" system was a better way of going about it.

Edited September 26, 2019 by ManicManiac

[ThePancakeLady]

2 hours ago, ManicManiac said:

As far as I can tell they "are" Will and Astrid (in that it's the same voice actors portraying those characters).

Eh, they are whoever you want them to be in Survival mode. Each of my survivors gets a different name and a backstory I make up for them, That I build on as I go. Role playing FTW.  As far as the voices... can you imagine the expense of having to find and hire a number of other quality voice actors, who could do as good of a job as Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale did? Survival Mode is advertised as "write your own story", which is why I give them different names and histories. But my son always plays them as Will and Astrid, so it's all fair.

As far as giving "class skills" buffs or debuffs, based on gender, the idea has come up, and been posted here and on the Steam forums many times. And it has never been adopted by the devs, and I doubt it ever will be.  I actually would prefer that it isn't added. I play a number of aRPGs and RPGs, where I can choose female or male characters, and there is no disparity between the genders. They have the same attributes For it to be added to Custom Settings, they would actually have to give the characters specific attributes that can be changed, rather than using an even skill leveling system.  Since Custom settings are only settings that already exist in the game, that the devs use to tune each experience Mode, and decided to expose some, but not all, to us, to let us customize our games, if we choose.

Once we have official modding tools and support, I am sure there will be modders who will set something like you want up. But I doubt the devs ever will make the choice to do it themselves.

[past caring]

I'm nowhere near getting any feats, lol, so can't comment on that. Maybe when I've stopped dying like a twat....

 

[ManicManiac]

20 minutes ago, ThePancakeLady said:

Eh, they are whoever you want them to be in Survival mode. Each of my survivors gets a different name and a backstory I make up for them, That I build on as I go. Role playing FTW.

True, that's a very good point... I do tend to do much the same (at least when I'm writing in the journal - though I almost never mention names when I'm writing along with my runs).

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by ManicManiac

[ManicManiac]

1 hour ago, past caring said:

I'm nowhere near getting any feats, lol, so can't comment on that. Maybe when I've stopped dying like a twat....

Believe me, it takes time to earn them... I've been playing since late 2014, and I've still not gotten them all.  Though the reason I don't have Fire Master is because I don't light fires unless they are absolutely nessisarry.    So after 5 years, I've not quite made it to 1000 fires lit yet.  

Plus, The Long Dark can have a steep learning curve, and permadeath makes each run valuable. 

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by ManicManiac

[past caring]

I am scoobied here. What do you do if you don't light fires? There's bugger all to eat otherwise, after a bit - only those bull-rush type things (Cat-Tail Plant, is it?).

 

[ManicManiac]

@past caring
Oh I do light fires... but I tend to light fires for long durations of cooking or for collecting water (and collecting charcoal for mapping while I'm at it).  In the early game I tend to stick to shelters where I don't necessarily need fire to keep warm above freezing.  Because of the way I prep and budget my resources, I tend to light fires a bit less frequently than I imagine the average player might.  I don't know if that's better or worse, but it's a strategy that works for me.

As a result it also takes me a fairly large portion of 'forever' to eventually get to fire starting level 5  

Edited September 26, 2019 by ManicManiac

[past caring]

@ManicManiac Not sure I quite follow - I understand the long fire = more cooking/more boiled water potential, but isn't it the case that you only end up with just the one charcoal regardless of how much fuel you've put on the fire? (unless it's one of those big stove in the house fires where you get three - but you get three with those with only a short fire).

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by past caring
idiocy on my part - not sure how to tag someone

[ManicManiac]

@past caring
Well from what I've experienced, the fire yields about 1 charcoal per hour of burn time (in game time that is), but it does max out after 24 hours though... after that no more charcoal seems to accumulate.

Edited September 26, 2019 by ManicManiac

[past caring]

Hmm - that is wierd. I will sometimes do a long fire* if I am up at the plane crash or down In Milton basin - because I know I cannot get back home until the following day. So I'll throw as much wood on the fire as the game will allow - but I have never got more than one charcoal afterward and I am religious about picking it up.

* I am probably doing it all wrong, but what I try to do is light a fire and get it just over the two hour mark, shove a couple of pots of water on, cook something and then go to sleep knowing that at just over two hours, the water won't boil away and will be ready in the morning....

[ManicManiac]

@past caring
For such short duration that makes sense... When I do light a fire (under normal circumstances), I usually want it burning for 10 - 18 hours.  Again, I don't claim to know the exact rate that a fire produces charcoal, but I'd bet that if you had a 2-3 hour fire going... you should have more than 1 charcoal when it finally burns out.  If say you had a fire that burned for 2 and half hours... I'd expect to see two pieces of charcoal.  It's possible, even likely that it may not even be a 1:1 match on the hour.  I'm just going by what I tend to see.  Sometimes on a longer fire I end up with a little more charcoal than I expect to see.   

However, if you are putting 12 hours worth of wood on and only getting 1 charcoal... I'd say that's a real problem.

Edited September 26, 2019 by ManicManiac

[past caring]

@ManicManiac - yeah that's definitely what seems to be happening. I can pick up 3 charcoal from a fireplace or stove inside a house when looting and the stove in the Milton house always gives me 3 - even when the previous fire I set was a two hour one. But if I camp outdoors and set a 10 hour fire or longer, I only ever get one. 😮

[ManicManiac]

@past caring
I definitely don't think it should be doing that... fires producing charcoal over time (burn time) was kind of a corner stone for the Faithful Cartographer update, and the behavior you're experience doesn't sound right.  Now just looting, a campfire or firebox you've never used... there is the chance of finding 0-2 pieces from "previous occupants," but I'm fairly certain that the production rate of a fire you're tending should be about 1 per hour of time the fire has burned.  You maybe experiencing a bug of some kind.  It might be worth while to submit a ticket on the support forum.

I know there is a link on the main page but I'll include it here as well for convenience:
https://hinterlandgames.zendesk.com/hc/en-us

Edited September 26, 2019 by ManicManiac